Spacemens Luck

 

Where Tom Corbett, Captain Video, CMDR Corry and Other Spacemen Still Live

Prolific Classic Space Travel Actor Morris Ankrum

Space Travel Hero Role: Morris Ankrum was a versatile actor who began acting late in life and who specialized in playing roles of senior governement officials. This was especially true in his many roles as a General in charge of dealing with alien invasions, most memorably as Colonel Fielding in the classic 1953 movie Invaders from Mars.

Space Travel Bio: Born Morris Nussbaum in Danville, Illinois, Ankrum’s originally began his career in academics. After graduating from USC with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley, he became involved in the drama department and eventually began teaching drama and directing at the Pasadena Playhouse.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

In part 1 of “The Mystery of the Sparkling Meteor” we learned that in Sector 7 a mysterious meteor that appears to be on fire has claimed the lives of 3 Solar guardsmen under questionable conditions over the past 15 years. Now a fourth Solar Guard Officer, Captain Powers, is unconscious from acute Gamma radiation fever.

Captain Strong and Dr. Dale have come to the conclusion that the source of the Gamma radiation and must be destroyed before anyone else is injured or worse.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

Captain Powers, aboard a rocket scout, is on patrol as the Sector 7 Comet Watch. Captain Powers in his last report stated he had seen a strange comet that was on fire. Now Captain Powers is 24 hours past due reporting in. Captain Strong and the Polaris crew are ordered to investigate.

The Polaris crew find the rocket scout drifting in space with Captain Powers and his son Jody Powers aboard. Captain Powers is found unconscious from a fever. Young Jody Powers can provide no help as to why his father is ill. He found him that way when he woke up 2 days ago.

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Dimension X

A not so successful Madison Avenue ad executive named Syd Ryan is setting at his office desk when his assistant Oliver comes in and states that there is potential client waiting to see him. Syd has him sent in. The client identifies himself as simply Looshar a Martian and says he wants to engage the ad agency for a campaign to announce the “Martians are Coming.” Thinking he’s a nut Syd immediately begins to throw Looshar out when he offers a $5,000 cash retainer.

Once Syd gets his creative thoughts going he proposes a suspense campaign with some mysterious press releases announcing “The Martians are coming. ” Looshar wants the ad campaign to culminate in a parade on June 1st. The parade will herald the Martians arrival. Looshar immediately approves authorizing a one million dollar budget. Looshar continues that “We are selling a concept,” he tells the ad-man Syd Ryan. “The concept of invasion–from Mars.”

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1953 Movie Abbott and Costello Go To Mars

While working at a missile base, simple-minded maintenance men Orville (Lou Costello) and Lester (Bud Abbott) help load supplies onto a rocketship. While onboard, Orville inadvertently launch the rocketship with themselves aboard. After a wild ride around New York City (the Statue of Liberty ducks when the rocket heads her way), Lester and Orville land in the outskirts of New Orleans, where Mardi Gras is in progress.

They exit the ship and witness “hideous creatures”, which are actually costumed celebrants, and conclude that they have landed on Mars. Meanwhile, two escaped convicts, Harry the Horse (Jack Kruschen) and Mugsy (Horace McMahon), discover and enter the rocketship, put on spare spacesuits, and head into New Orleans and rob a bank.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

In Part One of “Double Cross in Space” Captain Strong and Tom Corbett were searching for the stolen and rare explosive N72C they discover that it was aboard the Venusian Colonizer Space Freightor Jenny Alden. In a more personal way it is even more tragic that Captain Strong and Tom Corbett learn that Cadet Roger Manning appears to be one of the thieves.

In todays episode we find it has been two weeks since the N72C explosive has been stolen and Roger Manning and Jonas Brady along with it. N72C is critical to the mining of uranium pitchblend which is necessary for creating the fuel for all the ships in the solar system. The Solar Guard has had to deacivate 35 ships due to the scareceness of fuel. If this goes on another two weeks there will be no Solar Guard ships left in space.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

Roger believes he has failed the mid-term finals and instead of waiting around to be dismissed from the Space Academy he takes off on his own. Later in Captain Strong’s office two asteroid miners, Brady and Peters overhear Tom Corbett tell Captain Strong that Roger failed the mid-term exam. Disbelieving Tom, Captain Strong pronounces that he does not believe it, that Roger is as good an Astrogator as he is.

Brady and Peters, having just received their blast-off permits, are in need of an Astrogator and decide to look Roger Manning up. Meanwhile Captain Strong informs Tom that Roger was not on the regular mid-term regular pass/fail list because he was on the honors list, having received the third highest score in the whole Space Academy.

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Journey into Space

Space Travel Hero Role:
Andrew Faulds was the actor who played Captain Jet Morgan In the classic BBC radio serial of the 1950′s “Journey Into Space .”

Space Travel Bio:
After graduating from the University of Glasgow, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1948 but first came to a wider public recognition playing Jet Morgan in Charles Chilton’s radio drama Journey Into Space on the BBC Light Programme.

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Dimension X

The Dimension X production of Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles is a compilation of several of his Martian Chronicles short stories, weaved into a single storyline. Includes abbreviated versions of “Rocket Summer”, “Ylla”, “–and the Moon be Still as Bright”, “The Settlers”, “The Locusts”, “The Shore”, “The Off Season”, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, and “The Million-Year Picnic”.

Our story opens in a wintry small town in Ohio in January 1999 when a flooding sea of hot hair crosses the land. A little girl explains it is “Rocket Summer” where nearby a rocket launches toward Mars.

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Cast of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century

This, the first episode in the new 1939 series of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, opens in the capital city of 25th century America, Niagara. We find Buck in Dr. Huer’s laboratory with Wilma Deering. Buck has just been hypnotized by Dr Huer’s Electro-Hypnotic Ray. He is lying asleep under the Electro-Hypno-Mentalophone. This device will allow someone to hear what a person is thinking by putting what they are thinking on a speaker.

To explain how the Electro-Hypno-Mentalophone works to Wilma, Dr. Huer demonstrates by asking Buck to tell them how he came to the 25th century.

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